“Insider” attack this morning
This morning, the Washington Post is reporting that an Afghan in a police uniform opened fire in a police station in Wardak province, killing three policemen and two US troops;
Monday’s incident in Wardak province appears to be the latest in a series of insider attacks against coalition and Afghan forces. It comes a day after a deadline given by Afghans for U.S. special forces to withdraw from the province.
Deputy provincial Police Chief Abdul Razaq Koraishi says three Afghan officers were killed. A coalition military official says two U.S. forces were killed. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to disclose information pending an official statement
Yeah, Wardak is where Karzai said last weekend that he wanted special forces troops out. I’m pretty sure this is the second incident of it’s type this year which is better than last year, somewhat, but that’s little comfort to the families of these two casualties.
Category: Terror War
The deadline for withdrawal of our people from Wardak province was Saturday, according to the Post article. Hours after the deadline passed, this attack occurred. (I’m sure that this was a coincidence and no one could have anticipated an attack of any sort. Spit.) There is so much wrong here I could puke. But putting that concern aside for a moment, the sacrifices of our troops–as painful as they are–are not diminished one iota by the ultimate outcome of this sickening mess of US diplomatic games and ineptness, the rampant political correctness, and the overall stupidity of weak leadership. The troops are doing their duty at the cost of life and limb. That is something intrinsically worthy of our deepest gratitude and highest respect. It is also something most Americans know nothing whatsoever about and that some, in their abject ignorance, deliberately and loudly disparage.
From the Associated Press, March 10: “U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said he believes U.S. officials will be able to work things out with Afghan leaders who have ordered special operations forces out of Wardak province, even as commandos face a Monday deadline to leave.” Well, things aren’t working out. The Post says the deadline was Saturday and the AP says it’s Monday. And Hagel says it will all work out.
I can draw comparisons between Afghanistan and Vietnam that are downright creepy.
The only real difference is that the Vietnamese had spent over 1000 years trying to push foreign governments out of their country, starting with China, then the European explorers, then the French, and finally the US.
But the lack of objectives and incomprehensible leadership is almost exactly the same. And it’s not really a war, is it? No. It’s a military action.
@3 that isn’t even a difference, the Pashtuns and the other tribes have been fighting outsiders since before Alex the great of Macedonia..
Closer to 2200 years for Vietnam, Ex-PH2. The generally-accepted start date for Vietnamese history I’ve seen was the establishment of the “Land of the Southern Viet” (Nam Viet, or “Land of the Southern Viet”) by Trieu Da in 207BC.
Other sources push that back by an additional 2600 years to sometime in the 29th Century BC. However, the establishment of Nam Viet (source of the name “Vietnam”) appears to represent the dividing line between Vietnam as a Chinese protectorate/province and Vietnam an independent nation periodically invaded and/or temporarily dominated by China.
Comanche Doc: a major difference is that the Vietnamese people – though split periodically by north/south factional strife over the centuries – do consider themselves a single nation. In contrast, IMO the various peoples of Afghanistan (Pashtuns, Aimaqs, Hazara, Balochi, Turkomen, Kyrgiz, Nuristanis, and Tajiks) each appear to consider themselves a separate nation and give their primary loyalty to ethnic brethren vice an “Afghan nation”.
Peace in the region we call Afghanistan has historically resulted when one of these groups conquered/dominated the others, or when they were all conquered by an external entity.
oh no doubts, I’ve had afghans tell me they don’t consider themselves afghan but a part of sub/tribe and have no national identity. I’m in need of more coffee this morning, the usual stuff isn’t strong enough it seems.
Yeah, Roman merchants were there in the second century AD, but I was referring to the late dynastic period (945 – 1945) during which the Vietnamese engaged in major wars with Song China, the Mongol empire, the Yuan dynasty and the Ming dynasty, and their independence from China, followed by the arrivals of Marco Polo, the Portuguese, the Dutch, the French, etc., and the US.
In the 17th century, the Nguyen lords ruled the south and the Trinh lords ran the north, which afforded an opportunity for Dutch traders to support the north, while Portuguese traders supplied the south. The French invaded the port ofo DaNang in the 1850’s, enjoyed the cooking and never left until the French Indochina war forced them to take their saute pans and go home. And you know the rest.
Then the Chinese tried to annex Vietnam again (1979) and the VN-Sino relationship is — well, pungent and prickly.
Ex-PH2 (8): all true. I was just pointing out earlier that the historical conflict between China and Vietnam goes back over 1000 years further than that, to 2nd Century BC.